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Southland Times, Issue 1752, 10 June 1873, Page 2

The polling for the representation of the city of Dunedin in the Provincial Council takes place to-day. It is expected that the contest will be very keen, there being no fewer than seventeen candidates for the seven seats. The Macandrew committee have issued a " ticket," which comprises the following names : — Messrs Bathgate, Reynolds, Turnbull, Haggitt, Fish, Turton, ■ and Barton. • -

It is expected that the new Governor of the Colony, Sir James Fergusson, will arrive by the Albion, due at the Bluff to-day. The calendar for the session of District Court which commences this morning, comprises one criminal case, James Cook charged with obtaining goods under false pretences, and one civil case, Howard appellant, v. Fitzgerald respondent, appeal from Warden's Court, Orepuki, adjourned from last sitting to obtain the evidence of tho Warden. Dr Monckton returned to Invercargill j^sterday from Wellington, where he has been engaged for some time pa9t in arranging with the Government the particulars of his lease of the Auckland Islands. We understand that all the necessary documents have been duly signed, the currency of the lease being for a period of 21 years. The nomination of candidates for the representation of the Riverton district in the Provincial Council takes place to-day. We are glad to observe that Mr Robert Hamilton, of Rozelle, has consented to "stand for the representation of the Oteramika district in the Provincial Council. Mr Hamilton's long and intimate knowledge of the district and its requirements, his shrewd practical common sense and business ability, and the universal esteem in which he is held among his fellowsettlers, afford an excellent guarantee that tbe representation of the district will not suffer in his hands, while his known sympathies with Mr j Macandrew's progressive policy will, secure the support, we feel assured, of a large majority of the electors. It is announced elsewhere that the Rev. B. J. Westbrook will preach a sermon to the scholars of Long Bush Sabbath School, on Sabbath the 15th June. We understand that the school is at present in a very prosperous condition, both as regards numbers and organization. Parents and others interested in the welfare of the young will, no doubt, hail this opportunity of contributing towards the means of enabling the teachers to provide books and other appliances, necessary to the success of Sabbath School tuition. The Illustrated New Zealand Herald for June contains views of Trinity Church, Lawrence ; the township of Oamaru ; Noumea, capital of New Caledonia ; and an engraving of a picture by Hellemauher, called " Psyche aux Enfers," lately presented to the Victorian National Gallery. There are also illustrations of the recent Intercolonial boat race at Melbourne, and the swearing-in of Hi 9 Excellency Sir George Bowen as Governor of Victoria. At the meeting of the Land Board on Friday, 6th June, there were present Messrs Pearson, Baker, and M'Culloch. Nearly the whole sitting was taken up in the consideration of an application by Mr Peter M'Kellar for 9000 acres of land in the Hokonui district, being the whole of run 136. Mr Cuthbert Cowan, and Mr H. Hill (on account of Mr Fitzwilliam Wentworth), had lodged applications for a portion of the same land on the 4th June, Mr M'Kellar's having been deposited in the land office on the 3rd. Mr Cowan, and on behalf of Mr Hill, Mr Harvey, contended that the act of signing the application book an I depositing the application in the oflice did not confer priority of right to purchase the land, but that the real application was that made on the day of sitting of the Board, that consequently their applications were contemporaneous with Mr M'Kellar's, and they therefore claimed the right of competing with him at auction for those portions for which they had applied. Tlie Board rejected tins view, and granted Mr M'Kellar's application. Mr Harvey gave notice of appeal. The following applications were granted : — J. W. Hamilton, 83 acres, Jacob's River hundred ; Joseph Butler, 253 acres, New River hundred. An adjourned meeting was held on Monday, 9th June, at which the following applications were granted : — John M'Kinnon, 60 acres, Jacob's Hiver hundred ; Robert Gi lies ond Charles Street, 200 acres, Wario district ; W. J. M. Larnach, 1820 acres, Hokonui district, run 195 A ; Timothy Connor, 20 acres, Jacob's River hundred ; George, John, and Henry Bannerman Morrison, 1741 acres, Taringatura district, run 159. The Rev. James Buller in a recent lecture, entitled " Twenty years among the Maoris," laid down three rules for the successful management of the Maori, the practice of which would have saved the Government the wasteful expenditure of blood and treasure : — 1. Never deceive the native. 2. Never help him but in the way of self-improvement and relf- reliance. 3. Never yield to him when you have right and justice on your side. The Grey River Argus says that a very laudable and praiseworthy movement has been inaugurated by the mining manager and working men of the Ajax Company's claim, Murray Creek, which ought to be followed by every working claim in the district, namely, the establishment of an hospital fund, which is to be contributed to at the rate of 2s per man every monthly pay day. From all parts of the district (says the Wakatip Mail of the 4th inst.), come accounts of the destruction by the rains to roads, tracks) water-races, and mining property. We have not heard of any loss of life, but the injury done to property is very heavy. The reason of the rains being so much felt is owing to two or three causes. The long-continued drought has so baked the ranges that water runs from off them as it would do from the roof of a house. Another cause is that the weather continues mild and open. Any snow that has fallen has been thus melted by the rains. So mild is the weather that the Remarkables have not more snow on them than is often the case ia autumn and spring. The Star of the South, under contract with the New Zealand and Fijian Governments, left Auckland for Fiji on the 6th inst., to open up the service. She is expected to return about the 22nd. At the meeting of the Otago Waste Land Board on the sth, an opinion was received and read from the Provincial Solicitor, to the effect that runholders could not take up pre-emptive rights within proclaimed reserves. The Hon. Major Richardson has been nominated as a candidate for the representation of the Clutha district in the Provincial Council. From a telegram in aco ntemporary we learn that the Court appointed to enquire into the circumstances attending the murder of Sullivan has concluded its enquiry, and warrants have been issued against Mohi Purukutu, Hori te Tumare, i Whina, and Wera Tarawhaki.*|

At the first meeting of the shareholders of the Shotover Terrace Gold Mining Company, limited, held on the 6th inst., in Dunedin, Mr Anderson read and explained tho rules and regulations of the company, which, after discussion, werp adopted. The following directors were elected : — Queenstown : Mr J. Malaghan, Mayor of Queenstown ; Dr James Douglas ; Mr James W. Robertson, merchant ; Mr John M' Bride, hotelkeeper- and Mr James 11. Lawton, storekeeper. Dunedin : Hon. James Paterson, Mr G. W. Eliot t, Mr H. F. Hardy, Mr W. T. Winchester, and Mr Robert Gillies. Messrs George Turnbull and A. W. Morris were appointed auditors for the Company.

A Northern paper states that Mr Stafford has intimatod his opposition to the Permissive Bill, on the ground that one section of the community has no right to coerce those who think differently.

In an article on the so-called " constitutional" aspect of the present Provincial crisis, the Dunedin Star has the following remarks: — The President of the United States and the Superintendents of New Zealand are each elective, and the election is made on the basis of specific opinions and sympathies. They are each brought periodically to the bar of national opinion and subjected to its tests. The President, again, can be removed even before his tenure expires, by impeachment for misconduct. To this latter power there is a precise analogue in our Constitution Act, for by the second proviso to the 4th Section the Superintendent may, during currency of his tenure, be removed by Her Majesty on an address from the majority of the Council. There is no such thing in America as responsible Government, simply because with an Executive head periodically elected, and a power of removal in emergency by impeachment, it is quite unnecessary. In this Province, with the close analogy of an Executive head periodically elected and removable on address of the Council, tho attempt to introduce responsible Government is as absurd in theory as it is mischievous and expensive in practice. Where is the analogy, we ask, between the irresponsible English Sovereign and the elective, removable Superintendent of New Zealand ? " Gentle shepheri, tell me where ? " The system of responsible Ministries exists where it is absolutely necessary, in order to bring an exercise of the Royal prerogative, which is by law irresponsible under the checks of popular control. With an elective administrative officer, who is by law under the obligation of submitting his official conduct to periodical judgment of electors, and at any moment liable to removal on address of the popular Chamber, this system is not only absurd, but absolutely impracticable. The land fund of Canterbury, the Press states, "is at the rate of £400,000 per annum, and increasing every month." The same journal adds that " the sales for the last month have brought in upwards of £60,000, or at the rate of nearly £750,000 a year." Australian advices state that a grand fire-brigade demonstration took place lately in Melbourne. A torchlight procession, in which 500 men took part, and colored fires were used, came off, and next day a grand practice took place in presence of the Governor. The men jumped from parapets into canvas spread out below, and one man was nearly killed. An agitation is going on both in Sydney and Melbourne for obtaining a free cable message daily, for the benefit of the public and the press. It is believed that the two Governments are favorable to the proposition, if the other colonies will contribute. A recent visitor to the Kawau furnishes the Bay of Plenty Times with the following list of some of the most valuable contents of Sir George Grey's library : —" A manuscript Bible, 1200 years old, said to bo the best in the world, and a Testament 800 years old, both beautifully illuminated ; a Coptic manuscript of St. John's Gospel, grotesquely illuminated, and curiously bound in wood ; an Abyssinian manuscript of the four gospels, also illuminated; W. Caxton's works, the first printed in England, in 1490 ; and the only manuscript in existence of the New South Wales language, compiled by the Rev. L. E. Threlkeld and a native, and presented to Sir George in 1857. This work waa subsequently unsuccessfully claimed by the New South Wales Government." Miss Aitken's entertainment at the Theatre Royal on Friday evening was an unqualified success. The audience was large and appreciative, and the various readings were receive 1 with an enthusiasm which we think must have satisfied the fair artiste herself as leaving nothing to be desired. The attractions of the entertainment were much enlanced by the singing oi Mr Winter, who gave a selection of popular songs at intervals throughout the evening, which even without the advantage of a piano accompaniment were highly appreciated. On Saturday evening the entertainment was repeated with a change of programme, but as usual on Saturday evenings, and perhaps on account of the rival attractions of the political meeting in the Exchange Hall, the attendanea was not so good though the entertainment was quite equal to that of the previous evening. On this occasion Mr South acted as pianist. A fresh programme is announced for this evening, including a Scotch poem entitled " The Bapteesement of the Bairn," by Mr Robert Leighton, of Dundee —a piece which is characterised as "a piece of pawky Scotch humor, surpassing the best efforts of Alexander Wilßon and Hec'or M'Neill, and frequently reminding us of Burn's own richest humor."